form of vindication, by 1568 he found himself under the indictment of
Jewel. Jewel on 14 October 1568 wrote to the chapter demanding that
Smythe be removed from all functions (besides being organist, he was
still the teacher of the choristers and a vicar), and that for a whole litany
of offences, including drunkenness, quarreling in the choir, teaching the
boys to be mockers, playing dice and that he had been charged with
grave matters by a number of people (two married women are cited in
particular), and that a number of other charges are still outstanding
against him. Further, a complaint was lodged concerning Smythe and
Gervase Sharpe, who had been the witness to Smythe’s rock-throwing
altercation with Agnes Chamberlayne, that punches had been thrown
between the two in the cemetery, and that they then took their dustup
into the choir and proceeded to hurl insults at each other while the
choristers were singing. Jewel’s demands fell on deaf ears. The chapter
did deprive Smythe of his mastership of the choristers, but retained him
in his post as organist, though imprisoning him for two days.^30 Smythe
would, through various episodes of guilt and innocence, retain his post
at Salisbury until his death in 1587.^31
Jewel’s problems were hardly confined to rowdy members of the
cathedral clergy, but seem to have extended to dealings with the people
and governance of Salisbury. No record exists of Jewel having a misery
comparable with Shaxton’s, but it seems that he was still keen on
asserting his prerogatives. In 1561 Jewel was able to have Beauchamp’s
charter of 1472 reconfirmed (though the privileges that kept the diocese
in the Beauchamp family had already been removed by Henry VIII).^32
Jewel never shied away either from saying who was master of the town,
having witnesses testify that he considered the town’s people his subjects,
the mayor his mayor.^33 Among his privileges were the granting of
charters and the incorporation of guilds; he incorporated the Weavers
and Tailors Guild in 1564.^34 But at some point Jewel rankled someone,
as the other members of a commission he was on for the setting up of a
212 JOHN JEWEL AND THE ENGLISH NATIONAL CHURCH
(^30) Jewel’s letter is in D. & C. Sarum, Register Blacker, pp. 38–39. Parts of it are
translated in Robertson, Close, p. 139. The translation is by Canon Christopher
Wordsworth.
(^31) Betty Matthews (1989), The Organs and Organists of Salisbury Cathedral,
1480–19894th ed. (Much Wenlock, UK: R.J.L. Smith for the Dean and Chapter of
Salisbury Cathedral), p. 27.
(^32) P.R.O. Confirmation Roll 88, Sept 1st. 4 Elizabeth, Part I. Mem 11–17, quoted in
W.A.N.H.M., 39 (1916), p. 329.
(^33) Historical Manuscript Commission Reports, Ledger B., fol. 338a; H.M.C.R.,IV, p.
225.
(^34) Jewel’s Register, fol. 45a. and b.; 47a. My thanks to the Wiltshire Record Office,
Trowbridge, for allowing me the use of microfilm of Jewel’s, Campeggio’s, Shaxton’s and
Salcot’s registers. Cf. Also W.A.N.H.M., 39 (1916), p. 329.
http://www.ebook3000.com